Earned sick days laws support everyone

By Kati Sipp and Analilia Mejia

Friday

Apr 17, 2015 at 12:01 AMApr 17, 2015 at 3:00 AM

We’ve all been there. Illness strikes, and it’s hard to get out of bed, let alone drag yourself to work. Or your child comes down with the flu and there’s no way for him to go to school. And you certainly don’t want to put other kids at risk. Or you get a call that an elderly family member is sick and urgently needs a ride to a doctor’s appointment. As two working mothers, we’re particularly aware of the competing pulls of work and family.

Every American should have the right to earn paid sick days. Unfortunately, millions and millions of men and women aren’t able to take a day off when they’re ill or need to take care of a loved one. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, about 43.5 million people show up to work sick to avoid losing a paycheck.

Last month, we joined activists, parents, workers and elected leaders from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to demand that if presidential hopefuls like Gov. Chris Christie want to lead in America, they must lead on an issue that matters to millions of Americans. It’s not enough for Christie to name his political action committee “Leadership Matters for America.” For millions across this nation, “Earned Sick Days Matter for America.” Philadelphia was a fitting place to shine a spotlight on this important message. In February, the City Council passed the Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces bill by a landslide vote of 14-2. Mayor Michael Nutter immediately signed it into law, providing 200,000 Philadelphians with the right to earn paid time off.

In New Jersey, nine municipalities have passed earned sick day laws covering nearly 150,000 workers. In two cities, the measure was decided by voters with margins of over 3 to 1. A statewide bill has been approved by two committees in the Assembly, with a floor vote pending. In each of these instances, we asked voters and elected officials to vote with our family values in mind, and overwhelmingly they did.

A 2013 Rutgers-Eagleton poll found that 83 percent of Garden State voters support the law. Yet Christie continues to callously oppose state and local measures that would cover 1.2 million of his constituents. Recently, at a town hall event, he dismissed one of his own former volunteers by claiming it would be bad for business to ensure we all have the ability to care for ourselves or our loved ones without falling into an economic tailspin. But, in fact, communities and states that have adopted such measures have flourished, including in Christie’s own state. Any elected official or political candidate would give anything to enjoy the same polling numbers as paid sick days. A survey taken right after President Barack Obama called for earned sick days in his State of the Union address found a whopping 88 percent supported it nationwide. This is an issue that transcends party lines. Recently, the Senate voted with a bipartisan, filibuster-proof majority to support federal earned sick day legislation.

Nearly everyone supports such laws because earned sick day laws support everyone. They make working families more financially secure, our workers more productive and our communities healthier.

Despite a flurry of local and statewide laws, nearly 4 in 10 American workers can’t earn paid sick days. Often, those who don’t have access to paid sick leave are the very people who need it the most. For these folks, losing a day’s pay means not being able to pay bills, the rent or mortgage, or for much-needed medication.

Nutter has come to understand why earned sick time is so critically important. This year, he signed paid sick day legislation after vetoing it two times before. And Christie would be wise to do the same. Americans have no appetite for elected officials who would take our rights and our economy backward. In 2011, Connecticut enacted the first statewide earned sick day law. Since that time, employment has grown across the state’s leisure, hospitality, education and health services sectors — which were most impacted by the new law. And employment gains have been substantial in cities that passed similar legislation, from Seattle to San Francisco to Jersey City. A new Rutgers University report just found that 42 percent of businesses that changed their policies due to Jersey City’s law benefited from higher productivity, reduced employee turnover, and an improved candidate pool.

Politicians who oppose earned sick days will doubtless find themselves on the wrong side of history and, we bet, on the wrong side of voters. We all fall ill. Paid sick days are working for working Americans. This isn’t only the right thing to do. It’s also the smart thing to do. Paid sick day measures out-poll aspirants, like Christie, in every state they’d need for a presidential bid.

This doesn’t just matter to New Jersey or Pennsylvania families. It matters to all families. And no matter where you live, the days of being forced to make the impossible choice between a paycheck and taking care of ourselves and our families should be over.

Kati Sipp is director of Pennsylvania Working Families, and Analilia Mejia is executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance in Newark.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Advertise

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
Burlington County Times ~ 116 Burrs Rd., Suite B, Westampton, NJ 08060 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service